#they're HOLDING HANDS i LOVE them

[hhoneycloves]

Finally!! Finally !! @randaccidents Heart from Heartless and Mind from Jashwriting enjoying a safe, happy moment in a beam of sunshine ^^ [last safe and happy moment EVER. /j]

[Please do not tag as ship]

[blorbologist]

Y'know, I think I figured out why the Hells still feel like a new low-level party to me, even though they're level 13 and almost 100 episodes in.

I don't quite think it's the lack of conversations, or the fact half the party's plot hooks are big ties to past campaigns - though that definitely plays a part.

... Bell's Hells still primarily rely on quest givers.

Most of their goals are given to them and do not feel organic to the party, and constantly remind us that the Hells are pretty much never the most powerful people in the room. Which is usually something you see with a low-level party.

NPCs offering jobs is not a bad thing; it's a very common plot hook. Matt has been extremely skilled with using NPC quest givers in those two campaigns. Not only do they provide an obvious plot thread, but they can put the party in the path of others (say, the Nein running into the Iron Shepherds while doing a job for the Gentleman and everything that came of that). And the Hells had a solid start with it too - Eshteross was an excellent quest giver!

The problem is that Bell's Hells have never really not had a quest giver.

Maybe it's a byproduct of the more plot-heavy structure of this campaign? But while prior parties have felt like they decided on their course of action and what they prioritized, Bell's Hells feels less like level 13 (13! Level 13!) experienced adventurers and more like an MMO group clicking on the exclamation point over an NPC's head. Where does the plot demand we go next? Who do we report back to?

They're level 13.

At level 13, Vox Machina had just defeated a necromantic city-state to clear their name and Percy's conscience. And, you know, the Conclave just destroyed Emon. No one was explicitly telling the group to gather Vestiges and save the world (though Matt guided them there), and they were usually among the most powerful people in the room. They chose which Vestiges to prioritize, which dragons to tackle when, even if the over-all plot was pretty clear.

At level 13, the Mighty Nein were celebrating Traveler Con (another PC goal, I'll note) after brokering peace between two nations, accidentally becoming pirates and heroes of the Dynasty. The Nein regularly chose what to do based on personal goals, not grand ones. Though definitely smaller fish than Vox Machina at this level, they were very independent and gaining solid political clout.

While we're at it: level 13 is one level lower than the Ring of Brass, who had a huge amount of sway over Avalir. They ended the world, and also saved it, while in the grand scheme of things being only a smidge more powerful than Bell's Hells are now.

Can you really see the Hells wielding that amount of influence, when they're constantly being told what to do next?

The god-eater might be unleashed, so Bell's Hells have no time to do anything but what is asked of them. No time for therapy unless stolen from Feywild time, no travel on foot and late-night watches. They haven't even had time to grieve FCG. Percy was grieved in the middle of the Conclave arc. Molly was grieved when half the party was still in irons.

Matt is in the very unfortunate spot of not being able to give the Hells the same agency as the other two parties. Not only because of the world-ending plot introduced so early on; they are surrounded by characters they know (and the cast knows) are stronger and wiser than them - the familiarity of the past PCs and NPCs is to their disadvantage.

Why would the party reasonably ignore Keyleth's task that will help save the world and go off on a romp? Why would the cast when they know well Keyleth has to be sensible and with the best intentions in mind? The stakes are just too high.

It means that the Hells still feel like they're running errands instead of pursuing their own destiny. Their accomplishments are diminished as just being parts of a to-do list, and any stakes feel padded by several level 20 PCs/NPCs standing 5 steps away ready to catch them.

This isn't Bell's Hell's fault, nor is it Matt's. It could be amended, I think, if the Hells are really left to their own devices for a long period of time without support and shortcuts (like during the party split)... which would be really tricky to pull off at this point in the campaign.

They're level 13. They're big fish, but they're stuck in a pond full of friendly sharks, so they don't feel big at all.

[tetheredbysin]

Alpine and RB having drama with their driver pairings: "well you can't expect two drivers competing for a seat to work together perfectly when points are so difficult to get for the bottom five teams"

meanwhile Haas at every race this season so far:

[thatbuddie]

after buck and eddie get together, eddie starts giving buck absentminded kisses all the time.

kiss on the forehead after he passes him his morning coffee. kiss on the cheek while buck is cooking dinner. kiss on the back of his hand as buck drives them to bobby’s house for a family bbq. kiss on top of his head while they cuddle watching a documentary. kiss on his shoulder while they sit on the station couch reading in between calls.

but buck’s favorite kisses? the ones edde blows him from a distance. when no one is looking during a call and they have to separate, buck doing evac and eddie treating some minor burns. when buck is pulling out of the their driveway to go meet maddie and jee for lunch and eddie sees him off from the front porch. during their family night out at the movies with chris in between them before the action film their son chose and they’re both probably going to hate begins.

every single blown kiss is always followed by eddie mouthing “i love you” at him, and every single time buck feels himself start to blush, the butterflies in his stomach staging a very chaotic and uncoordinated flash mob.

there’s something so exhilarating about knowing that no matter how close or far away they physically are eddie always wants to be kissing him. like eddie knows just as well as buck does that his lips were always meant to graze buck’s skin and leave behind goosebumps for hours to come.

even when they can’t see each other at all, buck knows eddie is thinking about it too because eddie does not go more than 3 hours without sending him little 😘 emojis. he doesn’t say anything else, doesn’t contextualize them because he doesn’t need to. it's just random 😘 throughout the day, scattered in between the rest of their texts.

buck [3:33pm]: got caught in traffic, chris and i will be there soon! eddie [3:33pm]: ok, hen and denny just arrived eddie [6:03pm]: 😘

&

eddie [11:27am]: can you write “chris dentist appointment” on the kitchen calendar for 10/17? buck [11:31am]: done! eddie [11:32am]: thanks, baby eddie [2:16pm]: 😘

&

buck [10:08am]: we also need eggs! buck [11:43am]: remind me to replace the lightbulb in chris’s bedside lamp eddie [1:14pm]: 😘 eddie [3:09pm]: your amazon package just arrived buck [3:09pm]: yaaaaaaay eddie [7:24pm]: 😘

&

eddie [6:02am]: 😘 eddie [8:56am]: 😘 eddie [9:07am]: 😘 eddie [12:31pm]: 😘 buck [3:17pm]: 😘😘😘

[violinsandblood]

messy polycule for the win

[buttercupshands]

so... official lyrics for "Flower Bud" ending came out

made a quick thing to tie the lyrics with the moments when they play in the ending itself

[doverstar]

actually I love Tentoo and he is the Doctor and it was the only ending for Rose that worked and it is a huge gift to be able to have the man she loves grow old with her, they were always heading for that, y'all be quiet. I 100% understand the angst but it's okay, they're okay, good ending-

[mr-laveau]

Now stick with me here, Love helping Des figure out how they like to be touched and kissed–not a big concept but one that actually gets my brain going

[vaguely-concerned]

obviously they both suck real bad and everything, annoying elvhen mean girls to the core, but elgar'nan gently leading ghilan'nain off by the hand like a parent handling a toddler who's had a long and trying day at pre-school and badly needs a nap admittedly had me a little bit like 'awww' in an unguarded moment

[metiredlr]

Wassup w/ Ina11 goalkeepers in orange and their bfs w/ long blue hair and one eye showing

[hotasfahrenheit]

the hands, the hands, it's always the hands-

(sometimes it's also the lighting, pls)

these two strolling and holding hands so comfortably and naturally, and sure yes there's a million ways we know they're actually into each other but the casual comfort and affection here are so telling, and especially, especially-

when you're faking a relationship you hang on to the hand of the person you're faking it with, to help show off what you've got going on. in a normal situation where you're holding hands with someone you maybe shouldn't be, if you feel like you have something to hide, you let go.

with no one they knew of watching them, Dee and Yak held hands, but as soon as the person they are trying to fool perceived them, they let go. like a subconscious "oops we got caught having real feelings" moment.

there's an entire shift in Dee's body language here and it's so telling of so many things.

they're getting there, slowly slowly.

[sysig]

Family ♥ (Patreon)

[beetlethebug]

just got the tavern story about who would make the best frog and you know. you know that olric would be the best frog. and you also know that he would would go up to march with his big ol' eyes, 100% believing in the possibility of being turned into a frog, and go, "would you love me as a frog, bro?" and of course march would say yes. and because he's a nerd, he'd add, "no one would build you a terrarium like i would. you deserve the best. even if you were a frog." and you can bet your ass the next time that olric is (accidentally) snooping in March's room there are blueprints for the sickest frog terrarium the likes of which you've never seen. because march doesn't do anything by halfs (especially when it comes to Olric).

[heartburiedingreece]

I'll never get over this photo, I'll lecture my grandkids about it, I'll be thinking of it on my death bed, I'll get it engraved on my headstone

[virune]

i have a great eastern sonic plush and a great eastern shadow plush. and. let's just say. they always sit next to each other :)

[blackhholes]

scallison - summer 2019

when you break it down you freeze up while I'm freaking out